Can't Take This Love
by lethal paine
Summary: Naota refelcts on the toll his romance with Haruko has taken on him.


Can't Take This Love  
by Seiri   
  
A/N: This is NOT a songfic, although it was all inspired by This Love by Maroon 5. If you've heard the song or seen the (hot)video, then you know what I mean. I've been wanting to write a FLCL fic about This Love since Aug, but I hadn't been inspired to until I saw the video a few days ago. The lyrics are at the bottom for reference.   
  
This fic's got a slight twist at the end, so if you have any questions about it, ask.   
  
FLCL and it's character belong to **Gainax**, and Maroon 5 doesn't belong to me either (tho that'd be ultra cool).   
  
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Naota sat on the window sill in him room, rubbing his temples, his heartbeat a throbbing beat in his skull.   
  
He couldn't take anymore of this.   
It had been four years since the day his world was met headfirst by a Rickenbacker bass guitar. On and off for four years, here and gone for four years.   
  
It was hard enough saying goodbye for the first few times, watching that Vespa turn into a speck in the sky left in the ruins of his former life.   
  
But when she had returned that next time... all of his pent up anger and worry that dwelled within him emptied out of his like a hole in a water bottle. It didn't matter that she had abandon him before, the boy had fallen in love with her all over again. Nothing had popped out of his head, but she had stayed... for a while, anyway.   
  
The next time she came back, Naota remained angry. He wasn't going to let her make him forget this time. But then they had made love for the first time.   
  
A fist at his side clenched, while the other continued to massage his temple.   
  
The first time of many.   
  
It was amazing, he wasn't going to deny it out of spite. Naota thought that it had meant something. That she was going to stay for good that time. Psych.   
  
That day... he thought he was going to die. Come to think of it... he almost did, but that's a different story. Only a few scars now.   
  
A few.   
  
Surprisingly enough, Haruko had returned. He remembered it like yesterday, even if it was two years ago, even if he at first thought it to be a dream. Maybe that's why he had made it clear to her how much he missed her. Presently, the young man smiled bitterly.   
  
They didn't leave within four feet of his bed for two days.   
  
Maybe, she left last time because she wasn't satisfied... you know?   
  
At least, that's what he thought.   
  
Gone again, two months. A record.   
  
Throughout all this however, the bass had remained with him -so he always had hope she would return.   
  
So hope remained with him.   
  
And, about six months later, hope had rewarded him. Beautifully.   
Ugh, when would this throbbing _stop_?!   
Ageless, that woman. It was impossible not to notice, after three years and not a day older... not a winkle on her entire body... as Naota knew by now.   
  
Was he angry? At first, yes.   
  
Why shouldn't he be? She had been using him for three years, not only physically -but mentally, and she knew it. He had repetitively forgiven her for years... but that time, something changed.   
  
That day, one year ago, he had refused to speak a word to her. He nearly got into a fist fight with her when the last thing he ever thought to happen happened.   
But Ta-kun! ... I love you.   
Years of heavy blood, hot tears, and the salt of sweat finally paid off.   
  
Haruko felt the same.   
  
Naota could have flew, and looking back on it, he cursed it with every single fiber of his being.   
  
Six months.   
  
After another blissfully passionate night together, his heart was thrown into a blender to be ground into bloody pieces.   
  
She was gone.   
  
Just... gone.   
  
Nothing.   
  
The bass was gone too.   
  
Naota hadn't bled more in his entire life than he had in that one night.   
  
Of course, he being treated for a chemical imbalance in his brain now... after a futile month in a hospital... the same one she had snuck into the first time she met him...   
The throbbing in his head resounded throughout the room, and could now be recognized as a knocking outside the bedroom door.   
  
Yesterday, nothing special had happened. His dad had a guest over for dinner that was supposed to be staying with them for a while.   
  
The knocking at the door did not stop. His rubbed his temples harder.   
  
Ta-kun! Come on! Open the door! ... Please... Naota, open the door... the pleading voice of a young woman outside the door continued.   
  
Why couldn't the throbbing _stop_?!   
  
He couldn't take this anymore.   
  
---------------   
  
"This Love" -Maroon 5   
I was so high I did not recognize   
The fire burning in her eyes   
The chaos that controlled my mind   
Whispered goodbye and she got on a plane   
Never to return again   
But always in my heart   
  
This love has taken its toll on me   
She said Goodbye too many times before   
And her heart is breaking in front of me   
I have no choice cause I won't say goodbye anymore   
  
I tried my best to feed her appetite   
Keep her coming every night   
So hard to keep her satisfied   
Kept playing love like it was just a game   
Pretending to feel the same   
Then turn around and leave again   
  
This love has taken its toll on me   
She said Goodbye too many times before   
And her heart is breaking in front of me   
I have no choice cause I won't say goodbye anymore   
  
I'll fix these broken things   
Repair your broken wings   
And make sure everything's alright   
My pressure on her hips   
Sinking my fingertips   
Into every inch of you   
Cause I know that's what you want me to do   
  
This love has taken its toll on me   
She said Goodbye too many times before   
And her heart is breaking in front of me   
I have no choice cause I won't say goodbye anymore   
  
-------------   
  
So, what do ya think? When I first heard that song, I was screaming ... seriously, I think I made my mom deaf for a second. aheh   
  
**For those of you who didn't get it**, Naota keeps rubbing his temples because he's so ignorant to Haruko's presence that he thinks her knocking at the door is his heartbeat. Odd, ne?  
  
Thanks for reading. *bows*   
  
Be kind. Review.


End file.
